Simon Cowell’s last night on “American Idol” a sad one

As much as the show was about crowing the next “American Idol” it was as much about making a special tribute to English judge Simon Cowell.

A colleague of famous “Simon moments” were screened on the first half of the show and although cringing at some of the things he said to contestants overall Simon enjoyed it.

A special song was sung by comedian Dane Cook based on all the negative comments Simon dished out over the past 10 years.

The song was interrupted by some of the contestants that Simon rejected over the years and while vying for attention some of them began to fight for the microphone forcing the producers to cut to an ad break.

Comedian Ricky Gervais, via satellite, called Simon the “King Maker” who made contestants dreams a reality.. “and you only take 80 percent of their wages,” joked Jervis.

Paula Abdul, who surprised the judges with an appearance on the stage, described her first impressions of Simon Cowell.

“I could not believe what came out of his mouth,” said Paula.

“The best moments were when we were just laughing uncontrollably.”

"He taught me to be very strong,” added Paula.

Seven of the former “American Idol” winners appeared on the stage as a tribute to Simon including a lot of former “Idol” contestants.

Then the inevitable happened, Ryan Seacrest called Simon on stage to say a few words.

“I didn’t think I was going to be this emotional. I genuinely want to say it’s great to have Paula back and I want to thank everyone for the support and fun and everyone's sense of humor on this show,” said Simon emotionally.

“The truth is when everyone asks who is going to be the next judge the truth is you guys are the judge of this show (speaking to the audience and viewers) and you’ve done an incredible job on this show.”